


Captain Rex and Commander Fives: Ficlets

by RowanSparrow



Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Mini-Fic Collections [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: 79s, Commlink calls, Drunk Talking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s04e07 Darkness on Umbara, Umbara, based on a prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-04-21 16:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14288655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowanSparrow/pseuds/RowanSparrow
Summary: Just a bunch of Fives x Rex drabbles I've written for prompts on Tumblr that I'm compiling here. Mind the rating/tags, they will change as I post more to this work.Check out my other Star Wars character drabble collections too!





	1. Fives and Rex: Late Night Calls

**Author's Note:**

> All of these short stories were originally posted to my Tumblr, I'm just posting them all here as a collection to keep them organized (And give AO3 more Fives/Rex content because they're kind of a rarepair.)

ARC Trooper Fives was a naturally light sleeper. You had to be, when you were a soldier. Always on guard, keeping one ear turned to the wind, listening for the approach of an enemy, even in sleep. Add in the additional ARC training Fives had received, and it became near impossible to sneak up on him, even in the supposed safety of the Republic Starship, on his way back from a mission. 

Which is why it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Fives snapped awake the second his commlink started beeping. He swore softly in Mando’a, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and stretching, swiping a hand over his face before swinging out of his bunk, fumbling about on the ground among his armor plates until he found his commlink, quickly answering the call. 

“Rex?” He mumbled groggily, his brain fogging over with sleep again once he realized it wasn’t a General calling him. “What d’you need, sir?” 

“I uh…” 

Well, this was interesting. It was rare for Fives to hear the 501st Captain fumble over his words. He furrowed his brow, tiredness dissipating once again as he sat up on the bed. 

“What is it, sir? Trouble?” Fives asked, voice clear. 

“No, no trouble.” Rex answered quickly. His voice sounded… off, and if Fives didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought his Captain’s voice sounded a little shaky. “Did I wake you?” 

“Nah, I was up anyway.” Fives lied, scratching his fingers through his hair, trying to stifle a yawn. “You sure everything’s alright sir?” 

“Yeah, I just -.” A pause. Hesitation. 

“I had a nightmare about you.” A long, heavy silence. “And… and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”  **  
**

Oh. So that’s what this was about. 

Fives sat up a little straighter, sighing softly. 

“Umbara’s over, brother.” He soothed the older trooper gently. “We survived. I don’t -.” His voice hitched slightly. Thought of Hardcase. Thought of Dogma. Thought of all the brothers they’d lost at the hands of that - that _monster._

“None of us blame you, sir.” 

“I know.” 

A pause. 

“So stop blaming yourself, Rex.” 

“…”

“… Still with me over there?” 

“Yeah, I’m still here.” 

“Right. Feeling any better, then?” 

“I’m always feeling fine.” 

Fives chuckled, rolling his eyes at the Captain’s bravado. “You should’a been the ARC trooper.” 

A chuckle. “I don’t have enough of your attitude, soldier.” 

“You’ve got plenty, I assure you, sir.” He smiled at the commlink, hoped Rex could hear it in his voice. 

“Where are they sending you now?” Rex asked. 

“Ringo Vinda. After that? Not sure.” 

“Maybe I’ll see you soon.” Rex kept his voice light, casual, but Fives knew that tone. He smiled to himself. 

“Yeah… it’d be nice to see the 501st again… see you again.” He hesitated a moment, decided to go with his gut. “I’m - I’ll leave my commlink on tonight, yeah? I’ll keep it right by my bunk. Got anymore bad dreams, I’m there.” 

“Oh, wonderful. _My hero_.” The comment was meant to be scathing, sarcastic, but Rex didn’t hang up, and neither did Fives. 

They fell asleep to the sound of one another’s breathing, in time with one another, lightyears away. 


	2. Fives and Rex: Conversation in 79s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another prompt written for Tumblr.

Truthfully, Rex had never cared much for 79s. 

Though that wasn’t entirely true, he mused to himself, peering over the rim of his drink at his fellow troopers around the club. He didn’t mind it so much when he was younger, or when it was just him and Cody coming for a post-battle drink together. Seeing it now, however, made his stomach turn. 

Young troopers drinking together, celebrating a victory. Boys-soldiers disguised as men in their grown-up bodies and flashy armor, flirting with pretty waitresses, club patrons, and one another. Seeing them dancing, drinking, gods help him _laughing_ \- the innocence of it all broke his heart, and his drink seemed to sit in his stomach like a bag of rocks. 

Rex watched as a particularly fresh-faced trooper flirted with a pretty Twi’lek up at the bar, laying on the charm. The trooper had a sweet smile, and a too-soft face. Rex noted the lack of color on the soldiers armor. The little _vod_ hadn’t even been taken into a battalion yet. Dark, dangerous, intrusive thoughts wormed their way into his head. How long before the war claimed that man - he refused to think of the younger _vod_ as “boys”, it hurt too much - and turned him into a shell of what he once was, that dazzling smile he was giving the Twi’lek someday reduced to nothing more than a ghost on his lips. How long before the war took his spirit, took his _life_?

“See anything you like, Captain?” 

The familiar voice jerked Rex out of his reverie, and he blinked up at the young soldier leaning against the booth across from him. Fives was smirking at him, eyes glassy, lips wet, the beginning signs of inebriation kissing his features. As soon as Rex looked up at him, however, the carefree cheerfulness in his features fell away like a drop of rain, and the ARC trooper slid into the booth, leaning towards him across the table.

“Everything alright?” He asked softly. “You don’t seem like yourself tonight.” 

Rex nodded slowly, turning back to look at the shiny and the Twi’lek. “Yeah, all good.” 

Fives narrowed his eyes, like he didn’t quite believe him, and followed his gaze. Understanding came over him, and he looked back to Rex. 

“Why do you do that?” He asked the Captain.

“Do what?” 

“Get all mopey at the shinies.” He gestured to the kid and the Twi’lek. “If you’re wanting to feel young again, all you have to do is ask, old man.” 

He was teasing, but Rex caught the serious undercurrent in his voice, and he chuckled, taking another swig of his drink. He didn’t dignify the ARC trooper’s comment with a response, so Fives kept talking. 

“Back on Kamino,” Fives began, reaching across the table to take a swig of Rex’s drink. “I remember hearing stories from the older _vode_ about the war, about all the battles they’d been in. All the cadets loved those stories. Nothing regaled a bunch of cadets quite like war stories from the boys up front.” He settled back in the booth, closing his eyes at the memory. “Y’know what my favorite story always was?” 

“I’m sure it had something to do with several pretty women and a _vod_ with too much time on his hands.” 

Fives actually spit out his drink - Rex’s drink, actually - the amber fluid dripping down his chin as he laughed, his shoulders shaking. 

“No, nothing like that.” He wheezed, finally collecting himself as Rex smiled. “No, the _vod_ that told it to us, he was from the first gen of clones. He was at Geonosis.” 

“No shit?” Rex asked. Fives nodded. 

“Yeah. This guy... he didn’t tell us about the war. Well, he did, all the older brothers do, but the story I remember the most, was when he told us about the way the world looked from space.” 

Rex was quiet, watched as Fives’s lips quirked up in a small smile. 

“He said there was nothing in the world that could compare to watching the whole galaxy spread out in front of you, to look down at entire planets, whole worlds, teeming with life, from up above. He said -.”

He cut himself off suddenly, reopening his eyes and smiling broadly. 

“He said he’d never seen anything so beautiful.” 

Rex felt something gentle settle in his chest, a warmth blossoming in his stomach and spreading upwards throughout his whole body. 

“Echo...“ Fives continued, his voice growing soft. “Echo, when we first left Kamino, after training, he was so excited to see what Kamino looked like from up above, y’know? Kamino was all we - all _any_ of us - had ever known.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “If you could’a seen him, sir. Echo, shiny as ever, helmet off, breath fogging up the glass, looking out at Kamino with the most... wonderstruck look I've ever seen.” 

His eyes suddenly turned sad, fingers tracing graffiti etched onto the booth table. 

“Echo was a good soldier.” Rex commented gently. 

“Echo was a good _man_.” Fives shot back automatically. The two troopers locked eyes for several heavy moments, until Fives finally looked away, hauling himself out of the booth and extending a hand to Rex expectantly. 

“What?” Rex asked warily, tilting his drinking glass at the waiting clone’s hand. 

“I didn’t come here to mope.” The younger trooper answered bluntly. “I came here to get hammered, and I came here to _dance_.” He arched an eyebrow pointedly, holding out his hand more deliberately. “Get up, sir. Let me show you how it’s done.” 

Rex rolled his eyes, but took his hand all the same. 


	3. Chapter 3

The Captain had been avoiding him. 

ARC Trooper Fives had been planet side for nearly a week now, and in all that time he’d only managed to speak to Captain Rex in short bursts, barely more than a brief exchange of words in the mess hall, or between briefings, or leaving the refresher. Naturally, the Captain was very busy, Fives understood that. He himself had been kept occupied despite the fact that he was planet side with the 501st for a change. But even so, Fives knew something was off, he could feel it in his gut. 

He was ready, the next time he went to the barracks. Captain Rex was there, talking softly with Kix and Jesse. He looked up when Fives entered, and abruptly stopped his conversation with Kix and Jesse, instead tucking his helmet under his arm and brushing past Fives towards the door. As he moved past, the brash ARC trooper seized the Captain by his bicep. 

 ** _“_** Why do you hate me?” He demanded, not caring in the slightest that he was raising his voice to the Captain in full view of the rest of the battalion. 

Rex narrowed his eyes dangerously, and yanked his arm out of Fives’s grip. “Watch your tone, trooper.” He warned. 

“I won’t.” Fives snapped, his voice raising in pitch. He was getting worked up, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself. He couldn’t stand Rex like this. 

 _Why are you angry at me?_  

“Respectfully, sir, you’ve been avoiding me. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You nearly fled the room just now!” 

_What have I done wrong?_

Rex held his gaze, and then sighed quietly. “With me, please.” He commanded tiredly, beckoning for Fives to follow him. Fives frowned, but obediently followed Rex out of the barracks and instead to the Captain’s private quarters. 

“Why do you hate me?” Fives blurted again as soon as the door had shut behind them. 

“I don’t hate you, Fives.” Rex explained quietly, crossing his arms defensively. “I just…” 

He looked down at the floor, slowly dragging his eyes back up to Fives, but could only look at him for a moment before forcing his gaze away again. “I can’t… I don’t want it to hurt.” 

Fives furrowed his brow. “What do you mean, sir?” 

Rex snapped his gaze up again. “Don’t make me say it.” He snapped, his lips tightening into a thin line. 

Fives stared at the Captain dumbly, and Rex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before chuckling humorlessly. 

“I can’t - What happened with Krell, you almost being - I can’t go through that again.” He shook his head, his voice tight like the words physically pained him to say. “I - I care about you too much to bear the thought of losing you again.” 

A long, heavy silence transpired between the two of them. 

“So I’ve been distancing myself from you.” Rex finished curtly, straightening back up and rearranging the professional expression back onto his face. “Death is inevitable in war, Fives. We’re expendable. We can’t become attached to one another.” 

“I can’t help what I feel for you, sir.” 

Fives hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but how could he hold it back anymore, when the Captain had just dropped a line like _that?_  

“What I mean to say, sir.” Fives tried again. “Is I can’t bear the thought of losing you either. So please don’t try to distance yourself from me.” He stepped forward, into Rex’s space. “I’d rather live a short life with you, than a long one without you.” 

Rex didn’t answer, but he didn’t step away either. They looked at each other for several long seconds before Rex finally leaned forward, pressing his forehead gently against Fives’s, closing his eyes. When he finally pulled back again, his voice was gruff.

“Stay out of trouble.” 

Fives smiled, and squeezed his shoulder. 

“Yes sir.” 


	4. Chapter 4

It was the responsibility of an ARC Trooper to remain in peak physical condition at all times. Typically, ARC Trooper Fives didn’t have to worry about any extra training or exercise to keep himself in top form: The job kept him busy enough.

Today, however, the ARC trooper had been granted a very rare reprieve from combat, and received a full three days of shore leave. Three days. The last time Fives could remember having that much time on his hands was before he’d even became an ARC Trooper.

The first thing he’d wanted to do was sleep, but after spending so much time in the field, sleeping on an actual _bed_ with complete silence had become so foreign to him that it really just made him antsy. He even tried sleeping on the floor rather than on his bed, just to see if that helped at all. When it didn’t, he decided the only thing left to do was simply drive himself to exhaustion.

Which is how the ARC Trooper found himself in the training room of the base for the first time in, well, quite some time.

He recognized several other troopers in the training hall, most of them members of the 501st. They must’ve been on shore leave too. Jesse recognized him the moment he stepped in the hall, and beckoned him over to where a group of 501st men were gathered around the wrestling mats.

“What’s going on over here?” Fives asked, moving to stand beside the other clone.

“Grappling matches.” Jesse replied, chuckling as he watched the two clones currently on the mat – Tup and another clone Fives didn’t recognize – duke it out. “The Captain has us practice hand-to-hand whenever we’ve got shore leave.”

Fives nodded, impressed as Tup expertly flipped the other clone, locking him in a choke hold quickly. “And where is the Captain?” He asked.

“He just finished mopping the floor with me before you walked in.” Jesse answered, nodding to where Captain Rex was standing off to the side, watching the match with narrowed eyes, a towel slung over one shoulder. Fives smirked.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve fought a brother.” Fives stretched, twisting his arm over his head. “Who’s next?”

“I think some shinies were up next.” Jesse snickered. “You really want to show off all your ARC bravado on a couple of shinies?”

Tup stood up from the mat, taking his hair down and shaking it out before tying it back off, reaching down and pulling up the shiny when he finished. He clapped the younger trooper on the back, and Fives felt pride swell in his chest. The kid had grown into the 501st well since he’d been away.

“Well, well, well.”

Fives looked up. Rex was eyeing him carefully, arms folded across his chest. “Look who’s finally come back from the front.”

Fives smirked. “It’s nice to see you too, Captain.”

“You here to show some of the shinies how it’s done?” Rex asked, dropping his towel in one of the nearby dispensers. “Or did you come to try and finally beat me?”

“Didn’t you just fight, sir?” Fives prompted, already stepping up to the mat. “I wouldn’t want to give myself unfair advantage, old man.”

A soft murmur rippled through the men watching, and Fives saw Jesse roll his eyes out of the corner of his eye. Rex only chuckled, stepping up to the mat across from him.

“A big gun doesn’t make a big man.” Rex reminded him, eyeing Fives’s broadened shoulders. “Bigger just means you’re _slower.”_

Another ripple of commotion through the onlookers, this time Fives distinctly heard Kix mutter “For the love of Force” under his breath, exasperated.

“Is that a fact?” Fives asked, circling the mat slowly, his arms loose at his sides.

“Absolutely.” Rex shot back, rocking on the balls of his feet, ready to pounce. Fives smirked.

“Guess we’ll have to see about that, Captain.”

He lunged at Rex’s torso, immediately knocking him to the floor. Rex flipped them over with ease, pinning Fives underneath him in a moment.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Rex told him, keeping him firmly pinned beneath him. “Every time you go for the torso like that, you’re that much easier to flip.”

Fives grit his teeth, swinging his leg out and flipping them over again, this time using his knee to help keep Rex’s leg pinned down. “I’ve picked up new tricks, sir.” Fives panted, leaning over him. “ARC Training does that for you.” He dropped his hands to Rex’s shoulders, pinning him against his chest as they rolled over against the mat, Fives pressing Rex down into the material.

“I’ve gotten stronger, sir.” Fives smirked, keeping him firmly pinned down, one arm locked behind his back. “I’m an ARC Trooper now.”

A hush had fallen over the room, and even though Rex’s voice was quiet, it rang like a bell through the silent room.

“Maybe so.” He huffed, and glanced over his shoulder, honey-gold eyes shining mischievously up at Fives. “But I’m still your Captain.”

Hips up. Knees locked. A heel against his ribcage. In the blink of an eye, Fives was on his back, Rex’s foot between his shoulder blades, wrists pinned behind his back. Somewhere in the crowd of onlookers Tup muttered “Holy kriff.”

Rex held him down for a few seconds, then chuckled, finally releasing him. “You _have_ gotten stronger.” Rex commended the younger trooper, offering his hand to help him up. “Just not as strong as _me._ ”

Another low chuckle throughout the crowd, and Fives took his hand, letting Rex pull him to his feet. “Will you -.” He cleared his throat, ears slightly pink as the crowd dispersed. “Will you show me how to do that?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @rowansparrow-writing on Tumblr! Come say Hi!


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